School budgets are stretched thinner than most taxpayers realize. A single classroom set of calculators can wipe out an entire department’s discretionary fund for the year. A class set of novels for a literature unit often comes out of the teacher’s own paycheck. I know this because I lived it. The natural reaction is frustration, … Read more
If you have ever subbed, you know that classroom management for substitute teachers can be a struggle. I may train teachers now, but I started somewhere else. From 2005 to 2007, I was a substitute. Both kinds. First, I was the “call me in the morning if you need me” kind…rolling out of bed at … Read more
You have felt it: that specific dread when a lesson flops. Not the kind where kids just groan, but the kind where they check out completely, shuffling papers with dead eyes while you talk yourself hoarse, wondering why you spent four hours on that slideshow. I know that feeling because I lived it. It was 2007, my … Read more
Before we talk about how to use classroom management hand signals, we need to talk about why so many teachers try them and then give up within two weeks. The reason isn’t that the strategy fails. It’s that most advice you find online treats hand signals like a simple hack: pick some signs, post a poster, and boom, silence. That might … Read more
I’ve spent a lot of nights lying awake thinking about consequences, as I’m sure you have as well. Not the kind you read about in classroom management books…the tidy hierarchies that look great on a free poster but fall apart the first time a 2nd grader throws scissors or a high school student refuses to take out … Read more
We know peer pressure often carries a negative connotation in our classrooms, but can it actually be used for good? I regularly bring up the concept of positive peer pressure, and it consistently earns me a few sideways glances. “How can peer pressure be positive…and can you give examples?” they ask. As always, I’m happy … Read more
There’s a moment that happens somewhere around the sixth week of the school year. You’re not thinking about it when it occurs. It just happens. A student drops their pencil case, and without a word, three others are on the floor helping. Another child shares something personal during morning meeting, and the room sits in … Read more
(This post may contain affiliate links that won’t change your price but will share some commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read our disclosure policy for more information.) I started teaching high school history in 2007, back when smartboards were still novel, and most of us were just trying to … Read more
I’ll never forget my first real test with classroom management. It was back in 2007, and I was standing in front of a packed high school history class at a nationally ranked academic school, convinced I had everything figured out. I’d spent weeks planning my lessons, designing my PowerPoints, and organizing my classroom rules into … Read more
I remember standing in front of my first class of 9th graders back in 2007, absolutely convinced I had everything figured out. My carefully color-coded classroom rules were posted prominently on the wall. My reward system was ready. I’d read all the blog posts, attended the professional development sessions, and taken copious notes during student … Read more
I walked into my first classroom in 2007, and if there’s one piece of advice I now give to new teachers during their first week of professional development, it’s this: your classroom walls are not your décor; they are your co-teacher. For a long time, I fell into the trap of treating my bulletin boards … Read more
At any level, teachers are always trying to figure out what actually works for their students. But preschool is its own thing entirely. Preschool children are often in a group learning setting for the very first time, and nobody has handed them a manual on how this whole “school” thing works. Early childhood educators have … Read more